Flames of Konoha Never Burn Out
by Drifter of the Forgotten Ones
Summary: Ten years after the defeat of the Akatsuki, Naruto finds a boy who has a powerful phoenix demon stowed away in him. When that boy finally is able to become a shinobi, will he face new challenges? Or are the enemies of old somehow returning? R


**Prologue**

In the middle of the Village Hidden in the Mist, a man with spiked blond hair and deep blue eyes looked out of the Hokage's window, watching the setting sun. He was dressed in a jonin outfit, along with the robe of the Hokage, just like his father had done in that final battle for the village.

It was peaceful moments like this that made the man wonder what would've happened to the village now if he and his loyal friends hadn't stopped one of the greatest threats, if not the greatest threat, to ever come to the Hidden Leaf Village, the Akatsuki, ten years ago. He thought back to the final battle they had with the Akatsuki, where his former best-friend and rival for life, a raven haired teen named Sasuke Uchiha, had teamed up to destroy Konoha's final chance of defeating the Akatsuki. While the battle was progressing, the Akatsuki leader, Pein, noticed that his other forms had slowly started to be killed off, and in order for him to win the battle, he had to take over a new body; the body of Sasuke Uchiha.

In the middle of Sasuke's fight with his former sensei, Kakashi Hatake, Pein slipped in and took control of Sasuke's body. Using the combined strength of his new body and his own, Pein was easily able to overcome Kakashi and kill him. The man remembered clearly how much sadness had filled him at that point…but there was also rage with that as well. He roared, accessing the power deep inside of him, the strength of the Nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi, and soon was able to overcome the demon fox's will and was able to access the raw, un-tainted chakra that all demons possess. Using this pure charka, the man made a cloak of chakra that was white as snow, and took the shape of a fox, just like the old red-cloak he had used to use.

Using his new-found strength and power, the man made his signature attack, known as 'Rasengan', but unlike his normal Rasengans, this one was pure white. With a yell, he ran at Pein, who ran at him using Sasuke's signature technique, taught to him by the now dead Kakashi; the Chidori. Rasengan met Chidori in an explosive collision, being evenly matched at first, but soon the man gained the upper hand, thinking of his friends that were fighting alongside him, as well as his ones back in the village. Soon the Chidori was over taken by Rasengan, and the man struck Pein/Sasuke in the heart, killing him almost instantly. Pein lost control just before death, as Sasuke gained consciousness to utter these last words, "I guess…you win loser…I almost had you…"

The man fell beside the now dead Sasuke, tears streaming down his face as the realization hit him: he had not only killed the greatest threat to the Hidden Leaf Village, but also his best friend. Soon a pink haired woman came by him, hugging him in a comfort kind of way as they started mourning together.

But soon a knock at his door alerted the man back to reality. "Come in," he said, turning to face whoever had come to his door.

The pink-haired woman opened the door and walked in, her hair just below her shoulders and wearing a red and white kimono. "Naruto…" she said, smiling as she walked over by him.

The man, Naruto, smiled. "Hey Sakura, come to watch the sunset with me?"

"As always," Sakura smiled at him, as she felt his arms wrap around her, comfortably as she leaned against him. They stood in silence for a few minutes before another knock at the door interrupting them once again.

Naruto sighed, "Come in."

This time a man with black hair, tied into a ponytail walked in. He wore the regular jonin outfit, only his headband was positioned onto his shoulder, and he had a small earring on one of his ears. "Naruto-same, Sakura, I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Of course not Shikamaru," Sakura said, getting out of Naruto's grip as they turned to face him. "What brings you here?"

"Something that must be seen by Naruto at once," Shikamaru said.

"Not more paperwork is it?" Naruto asked.

"No, but something we found while on patrol…in a burned down town."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Sakura…" he started, but was soon interrupted by a child's crying.

Sakura sighed. "Go ahead Naruto, I'll check on her," she said, referring to the two's twenty-three month old baby in the next room. She pecked Naruto on the cheek before walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"So Shikamaru, where is this thing I'm supposed to see?" Naruto asked.

"He's in the Black-Ops sealing room," Shikamaru responded.

"He?"

"You'd be better seeing this for yourself," Shikamaru said before they both vanished into thin air.

….

Inside the Black-Op sealing room where a handful of ANBU, but they were standing away from something in the middle of the room that had a small demonic aura around it.

Soon Naruto and Shikamaru arrived on the scene, near an empty spot of the circle of ANBU. "He's right there," Shikamaru said, pointing to the object with the demonic aura around it. "We found him and brought him back here, where that aura started to form around him. It's a baby boy, probably somewhere around your daughter's age."

"I see…and what do you think is wrong with him?"

"We suspect there is a demon sealed within him, trying to get out. That's why we called you."

Naruto didn't even wait til he heard Shikamaru finish, walking toward the glowing boy. He kneeled down, touching two fingers to the child's forehead. "Insight," he said, his eyes closing as he entered the boy's mind.

….

Naruto looked around, seeing he was in what looked like an underground sewer, something that he remembered from when he went to go talk to Kyuubi long ago. A wailing sound hit his ears as he ran towards it, soon to find a small boy sitting in the water, crying loudly.

The boy had shaggy black hair, with had some tips of red in it, his dark brown eyes filled with tears. "It's ok…" Naruto said softly as he slowly lifted the boy up into his arms. "It…it scared me…and yelled at me…" the boy murmured softly.

_He must be talking about his demon,_ Naruto thought as he heard a loud screeching noise. "I'll go talk to him," he said, walking toward the noise as the boy clung to him tightly.

Soon they arrived at a large cell, one that looked like it could hold over a thousand men with its height. Before Naruto could say anything, a large black feather flew by him silently, followed by another one before another screech was heard. Two large red eyes glared at him through the bars. **"Who dares disturb by escape!" **it yelled.

"It is I, Naruto Uzimaki! Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village and container of the Nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi!" He yelled loudly.

The creature inside the cage laughed. **"So what? What does that have to do with anything about stopping my escape?"**

"What are you planning on doing after you escape?"

**"Destroy the village of course!"**

"Then I can't let you do that."

A loud laughter was heard from inside the cage. **"Do you think you can stop me? Or maybe my pathetic container could help you out!"**

Naruto growled and looked at the boy he was still carrying. "We will keep you from escaping!"

The laughing continued before the boy spoke up softly. "Akuji…Stop it…" The laughing ceased before a loud screech was heard. **"Silence!"** The boy shivered before shaking his head. "I won't let you hurt Namuto," he said, mispronouncing Naruto's name.

**"Like you can stop me!"**

The child grew silent before suddenly Naruto began to laugh. **"What is the meaning of your laughter?"**

"You forgot to watch the lock of your cage." Naruto said.

The creature in the cage's eyes shifted to the seal of his cage. When he had first started making his plan to escape, it had been damaged. But now, it had been replaced by a clone of Naruto. **"No!"**

"Seal jutsu!" the Naruto clone yelled as he slammed his hand onto the seal, making a bright and flashing light.

…..

The ANBU, plus Shikamaru, uncovered their eyes from the light that had just blinded them. They looked in the center of the room to see their Hokage now holding the small boy in his arms. They heard him ask this, "Now, can you tell me your name kid?"

"Max…" The child said. "My name is Max…"


End file.
